


Key Evidence

by 27dragons



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Camping, Confessions, Hiking, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28351440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons
Summary: “I, uh.” Bucky squared his shoulders under the heavy pack and turned to look at Tony. “Don’t be pissed.”
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 352
Collections: StarkBucksBingo2020





	Key Evidence

**Author's Note:**

> This fills square B5 - "I locked the keys in the car" - for the StarkBucks Bingo. The full fill header is in the end notes.

Tony sighed in relief as the trail began to curve to the south, the last long slope before they reached the main campground.

He had to admit, it was pretty clever of the smugglers to organize their meetup at the head of a hiking trail. Advances in weaponry these days were primarily in software - intelligent targeting systems and the like -- which could be handed off with a couple of thumb drives.

And only a couple of bad guys were needed to make the exchange, which meant that a small team -- say, Tony for the technical expertise and Bucky for backup -- were all that was needed.

But they’d been up in the mountains for more than a week, pretending to be regular campers in order to gather the evidence they needed to identify the source of the leak. Tony wanted real food, a real bed, and a hot shower, not necessarily in that order.

They were a handful of switchbacks above the campground when Bucky stopped so suddenly that Tony actually ran into him. It could’ve been dangerous, given how steep the trail was, except that Bucky was solid enough that not much could move him if he didn’t want to be moved. “The hell?”

“I, uh.” Bucky squared his shoulders under the heavy pack and turned to look at Tony. “Don’t be pissed.”

“Don’t be pissed about what?” Tony wondered. He had a strong suspicion that he was going to be pissed.

“Remember that first day when we set out, we got like two miles up the trail and you realized you’d forgotten your tarp? And I went back to get it?”

“Yeah.” Tony had kept trudging along the trail, and Bucky had caught back up with him in about half an hour, without even the decency to pretend to be winded.

“I, uh. I may have... locked the keys in the car. By mistake.”

Tony could feel the pressure building at his temples. “And you’re only now thinking to tell me this?”

“I didn’t want to distract you from the mission,” Bucky said defensively. “There wasn’t anything we could do about it right then!”

“Except maybe I could have called someone to come up and leave the spare key at the ranger’s station for us,” Tony pointed out, pinching the bridge of his nose. He allowed himself one deep sigh before pushing past Bucky to start down the trail again. “If I scratch my paint job jimmying the locks, you’re going to be in trouble.”

“You’re gonna jimmy the locks? With _what?_ ”

Tony threw an unimpressed look back over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, who are you talking to? Can you imagine a scenario when I would go on any kind of trip without at least a basic toolkit?”

Bucky opened his mouth to reply, closed it, and looked down at his feet as they made their way down the steep, narrow trail. Two switchbacks later, he muttered, “Was kinda hopin’ we’d be stuck for a bit.”

Tony whirled around to face him. Bucky managed to stop before bumping into Tony, which was good, because Bucky weighed rather more than Tony and that could’ve been disastrous. “I’m sorry, what?” Tony demanded.

Bucky made a face like a four-year-old being told to eat his vegetables. “I just wanted... I mean, campin’s supposed to be _fun_. Relaxing. An’ I kinda wanted to spend a little more time with you. Just the two of us.”

“You... want to spend more time with me?” That was kind of a surprise. Most people, in Tony’s experience, wanted to spend less time with him. He was, he’d often been told, _exhausting_ , even at his best.

“Yeah,” Bucky admitted. “Without all the others around t’ get in the way.”

“So you want us to camp out again?” Tony folded his arms. “While I’m tired and irritable? Those do not sound like ideal conditions.”

“Don’t have to be camping,” Bucky allowed. “Just... long as it’s you an’ me, I’m happy.”

There was a little flush rising up out of Bucky’s collar.

“We’re going down there and breaking into my car,” Tony said carefully. “And on the drive home, we’re going to talk about this thing. Because as much as I like the idea of, of _us_ , camping is _not_ my gig.”

“Yeah?” Bucky was looking at him again with a slow smile like the rising sun, and it was _almost_ enough to make Tony forget about the utterly absurd number of times he’d seen the actual rising sun on this trip.

“Yeah. And then we’re going to talk about how you can atone for locking the damn keys in the car instead of using your words like a normal person.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Key Evidence  
> Square: B5 - "I locked the keys in the car"  
> Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28351440  
> Rating: T  
> Warnings: None  
> Ship: Winteriron  
> Wordcount: 782  
> Summary: “I, uh.” Bucky squared his shoulders under the heavy pack and turned to look at Tony. “Don’t be pissed.”


End file.
